More Canadians concerned with health of others than their own during pandemic

Canadians are changing their weekly habits and taking more precautions, according to a new Statistics Canada survey examining how people are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic going into the second month of lockdown.

The information, collected from more than 4,600 people across 10 provinces between March 29 and April 3, will be used by government organizations such as the Public Health Agency of Canada, along with Employment and Social Development Canada, to inform Canada’s response to the pandemic.

Results of the survey show that over one-third of Canadians reported they were “very or extremely concerned” about the impacts on their own health, however, they were even more concerned about the impact on the health of others. Over a third of Canadians reported they were very concerned about the health of someone in their household and 79 per cent of people were concerned about the health of vulnerable people. Furthermore, 84 per cent of people said they were very concerned that COVID-19 would overload the health care system.

The majority — nine in 10 — said they were following physical distancing guidelines, such as avoiding leaving the house and using social distancing when out in public. More than 90 per cent of people said they were washing their hands more regularly, 70 per cent said they were avoiding touching their face and 63 per cent of people said they were stocking up on essentials at a grocery store or pharmacy.

More than half of Canadians said they were using news outlets as the main source of information about COVID-19, while about three in 10 Canadians said their main source of information was government health agencies or federal and provincial daily announcements.

As of April 13, Canada has a total of 24,365 cases of COVID-19 with 1,445 of those in B.C.